Karelyn Lopez Rodriguez

I have always been inspired by women in leadership. I am very grateful and honored that I have multiple women in leadership positions in my current job that have taken the unofficial role as my mentors, helping me shape my voice within the workplace. I've also been inspired by wanting to make sure that I'm successful for the sake of my family. I come from a very small town, humble family, and I always saw myself doing more. Where I am right now in life is more than I ever dreamt of - being able to travel to our headquarters, being able to have those conversations with the executives I never thought would be possible, and even enrolling and starting grad school, which I also thought wouldn't be possible. I would be the first one in my family to have a graduate title once I graduate, so I'm very excited to be able to do that and show the little ones in my family, especially my nieces, that there's so much that they can do, that the world is their oyster, and whatever they set to do, they can achieve it. I want to be that example for them and for any other women that are doubting themselves or are struggling to think that they can't make it. I promise you can, as long as you're dedicated to it.

The best career advice I’ve received is the importance of continuously investing in my education, actively seeking out mentorship, and staying open to opportunities that challenge me to grow both personally and professionally. I’ve learned that career development is an ongoing process, and real progress comes from a willingness to keep learning, adapt to new environments, and embrace experiences that stretch my skills and perspective.

Aside from be yourself and use your voice as an amplifier for leadership messages, keep believing in yourself. I know it's hard out there, but I think you putting in and keeping your values inside the integrity piece, the kindness piece will get you far. Keep networking, keep connecting with other women in the field, with other people in the field. I am very grateful that that's something that both my jobs have taught me networking really helps. Keep connecting with others, keep showcasing your projects, any piece that you write, anything, save it, it's your voice. And then ensure that you never let go of the integrity piece. I think being yourself is what matters. I think our work will always get you there, but I think more than anything, being yourself is what matters the most.

The biggest challenges I face right now are around AI and how it's causing debates on how much it can help or how much it can be detrimental. I'm trying to shape how AI works with me and how it can help the field. Another challenge is how to deliver messages and ensure everybody reads them in a remote world. My job is fully remote, and some people prefer visuals, other people prefer reading messages, other people prefer audio, so figuring out how to deliver a message where everybody can connect with it is difficult. I'm trying different approaches, but between AI and how to deliver a message, those are the biggest challenges. The third challenge is ensuring that the message that leadership is sending actually connects with and lands with our front lines. Sometimes we can send a message and it just doesn't stick, or when we ask them for feedback, that's when we hear they didn't like it. On the opportunities side, I think we are in a very unique place where communications roles are on the rise because of AI being on the rise. We are tasked with bringing guardrails around artificial intelligence, and we're also in charge of ensuring that we communicate what AI is here for us to do. I want people to know that artificial intelligence is here as a tool to help us, not as a replacement. More than ever, we are needed to ensure that the messages are still part of our goal and align with our values and our mission. I've never seen the communications field grow as much as I've seen it now. I see so many job postings for communications on LinkedIn, and it's because more than ever, we need to ensure we're there to drive the bus and ensure that leadership teams are still delivering heartfelt, aligned messages rather than just putting out whatever AI spits out when they ask for a prompt.

I think integrity is the number one value, and being true to yourself. I think you can be yourself and achieve anything you want. Sometimes we feel like we have to shape or adapt or form this persona when it comes to the workplace to achieve anything, but sticking to who I am and just knowing that I am enough and I can be myself - that integrity piece for me is crucial. I'm a firm believer that you can root for others and uplift others without feeling like you're behind or having to step on other people's toes or try to take them down while you're trying to move. I think uplifting each other and helping each other is the best way to do it. So integrity, supporting your peers, elevating your peers, celebrating the wins, and then of course just being kind in the workplace and anywhere in life. I think kindness takes people a very long way, and I think we need that in the world right now more than any time before. You never know what others are going through, so always have that in mind when you're engaging with anybody.